Once Upon A July
by StarryNight359
Summary: Based on harryfan160889's Harry/fem!Neville challenge. From first year onward, Neville & Harry become good friends as she teaches him about Pureblood society and customs. Features Harry as Lord Potter, later also as Heir to the Black family and mostly canon (original content as story progresses). Rating may change, genres will include Romance later on. Several side pairings.
1. Chapter 1

Hello! I've decided to take up challenges to get rid of my laziness. To anyone following any of my other stories, I'm really sorry. I don't have any excuses. I do want to finish at least one of my multichapters, but it may take a while.

**Disclaimer: I obviously don't own the Harry Potter Universe, except on my book shelf and as DVDs.**

A/N: I quoted parts of this (and will probably continue to do so) directly from the book. I didn't highlight them though because to me, it just ruins the flow of a story. Enjoy reading :)

A/N2: This is an edited version of chapter 1 with more details making up over 2000 words more than the first version. Feel free to skip the parts you've read. Also, as stated in the summary, this is mostly canon and n ot necessarily in chronological order.

* * *

There was a knock on the door of their compartment and the round-faced girl Harry had passed on platform nine and three-quarters came in. He could barely see her eyes under the long fringe that hung over them but she looked tearful.

"I'm sorry." she said, "but have you seen a toad at all?"

When they shook their heads, she hiccuped, "I've lost him! He keeps getting away from me!"

Harry felt bad for her while Ron looked at her with raised eyebrows, his thoughts of why anyone would want a toad as pet, never mind miss it, displayed clearly on his face.

"He'll turn up." Harry reassured her.

"Yes." said the girl, still miserable, "Well, if you see him…"

She turned to leave. Without being able to explain why, Harry's heart sank. The girl's shoulders were hunched under her baggy jumper, making her look sad and lonely. He could empathise only too well. Trading a look with Ron who shrugged, he called out.

"Wait!"

She froze and slowly turned around, shoulders pulled even higher than before. Her eyes were wide and he could finally see what their colour was, some sort of blue-green-gray. She looked like a frightened mouse backed into the corner of their compartment. Harry smiled at her in what he hoped was a welcoming manner. "What's your name?"

She shrank back further against the apartment wall.

"E-Evangeline." she stuttered slightly, bewildered. Harry stood and reached out his hand.

"I'm Harry." he said. Evangeline looked down at his hand dubiously but took it nonetheless. She looked up at his face and finally, his forehead. Her mouth formed a silent 'o'. She let go of his hand.

"You're H-Harry P-Potter?"

Harry's smile turned awkward. This was still new to him after all.

"Yeah." he laughed a little uncomfortably. Harry turned to Ron and nodded in the girl's direction. Ron looked at him uncomprehendingly then suddenly jumped.

"'m Ron, Weasley." he quickly mumbled, sticking out his hand which Evangeline shook as well. The compartment fell silent.

Evangeline began to turn when Harry stopped her again.

"You can sit with us, if you want." he offered. She looked at him in surprise and then at Ron, who seemed just as surprised. Ron gave a slightly awkward smile but nodded at Harry's look. Evangeline smiled a little.

"Really?" she asked, unsure and Harry nodded. Her smile turned bright. "I-I'll just get my things."

And with that, she was gone.

The two boys turned toward each other.

"Well." Ron said. Harry shrugged apologetically.

"Sorry, but she looked so sad."

"It's alright." Ron said. He inspected an opened packet of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans and then put it down with a grin. "Don't know why she's so bothered about that toad though, I'd lose it as quick as I could. Mind you, I brought Scabbers so I can't talk."

They both looked down at the rat which was still snoozing on Ron's lap.

"He might have died and you wouldn't know the difference." said Ron in disgust. "I tried to turn him yellow yesterday to make him more interesting, but the spell didn't work. I'll show you, look…"

He rummaged around in his trunk and pulled out a very battered-looking wand. It was chipped in places and something white was glittering at the end.

"Unicorn hair's nearly poking out. Anyway -"

He had just raised his wand when the compartment door slid open again. It was a girl in new Hogwarts robes.

"Has anyone seen a toad? Evangeline's lost one." she said. She had a bossy sort of voice and rather large front teeth. They both shook their heads.

"We've already told her we haven't seen it." said Ron, but the girl wasn't listening, she was looking at the wand in his hand.

"Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it, then."

She sat down beside him. Ron looked taken aback.

"Er - alright."

He cleared his throat when a timid knock on the compartment door sounded and slid open once more. Evangeline peeked inside, eyes widening at the sight of Ron raising his wand and noticing everyone looking at her. She quickly slipped inside and closed the door, standing there awkwardly with an old-fashioned suitcase in hand.

"Sorry, I-I didn't mean to interrupt." she stuttered. Ron simply looked even more uncomfortable and Hermione shot her smile. Harry smiled as well, patting the space beside him which had stayed miraculously free of candy wrappers and sweets.

"Come on, sit down." he said. Evangeline smiled back and gladly sat, her suitcase beside her. Then she turned curious eyes on Ron who was still holding up his wand.

He cleared his throat again, eyes flicking toward the new girl who raised her eyebrows.

"Go on then."

"Right - well." he said, pointing his wand at Scabbers.

"Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow,

Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow."

He waved his wand but nothing happened. Scabbers stayed gray and fast asleep.

"Are you sure that's a real spell? Well it's not very good, is it?"

The girl launched into an explanation of her successful spells, her muggle heritage and generally how fascinated she was with the subject of Hogwarts. Apparently she had already read all their school books in her eagerness. She said all this very fast, finishing with her name. "I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?"

The other three in the compartment shared equal looks of surprise; they obviously hadn't learned all of their books off by heart either. Harry and Ron quickly mumbled their introductions and after a short, one-sided discussion about Harry's fame in the wizarding world and the different Houses of Hogwarts, Hermione left.

The other three stayed stunned silence for a bit, Evangeline smiling slightly.

"She's nice." she said, reddening under the boys' disbelieving looks. She quickly added, "She helped me look for Trevor."

"Yeah, I guess." Ron paused, then looked down at the small pile of chocolate frogs still left. He picked one up and held it out to her. "You don't collect chocolate frogs, by any chance, do you?"

* * *

Harry gripped the edges of the stool and thought, _Not Slytherin, not Slytherin._

'_Not Slytherin, eh?__'_ said the small voice. _'__Are you sure? You could be great, you know, it__'__s all here in your head, and Slytherin will help you on your way to greatness, no doubt about that - no? Well, if you__'__re sure - better be _GRYFFINDOR!'

Harry felt a great sense of relief wash over him. He took off the hat and shakily walked toward the Gryffindor table where he quickly found Evangeline. They exchanged relieved smiles; they had both been feeling rather insecure about which House they could have been put in. At least now they had each other as allies in the same House, even if Ron didn't make it. That thought, however, was quickly discarded when Ron was also sorted into Gryffindor a little while later. He sat down beside Harry and grinned at him, the scowled at Hermione who coincidentally sat opposite him. Before he could say anything though, his two older twin brothers bound over to them, grinning brightly. They congratulated their 'little-ickle Ronnykins' on becoming a Gryffindor by ruffling his hair and whooped in victory at Harry's sorting ("We've got Potter! We've got Potter!"). When Ron apologised to Harry and Evangeline for his 'idiot brothers' behaviour they pounced on her as well, exclaiming how their little brother was growing up and already had a girlfriend ("She can be our new pet, what do you think?" "Just what I was thinking! How about 'Neve'?" Thus they called her that and it stuck). Headmaster Dumbledore put a stop to all the talking as he stood up and held a short and confusing welcome speech. Then he sat down again with a mysterious smile on his face, the House tables and staff table filled with incredible amounts of food. Among all the first years' wonder, the whole Hall began to eat and burst into excited chatter.

The new students excitedly swapped stories. They met their respective House ghosts ("How can you be _nearly _headless?" Hermione sceptically asked theirs. Nearly Headless Nick proceeded to show them exactly how and the expected groans of disgust followed; he looked very pleased with himself) and got to know each other's backgrounds better during dessert ("I'm half and half." Seamus explained, telling them an anecdote of how his muggle father discovered his wife was a witch after their marriage. "Bit of a nasty shock for him." They all laughed). Ron asked Neve about her background; even though she had sat with him and Harry on the train, it had never come up.

"Well, my gran brought me up. She's a witch." Neve started, voice going a little quiet when she noticed the everyone's eyes on her. "My family thought I was a Squib."

Harry was just about to ask what that meant when Seamus beat him to it.

"What's a squib?"

"A non-magical child whose parents can both do magic." Hermione tuned in, pleased to see her pre-school reading was already paying off. Ron rolled his eyes but Harry smiled in thanks and Seamus nodded. Neve continued, a faint blush creeping up her neck at her blunder. But she had definitely opened up a little more compared to how she had been at the beginning of the train ride. "My great-uncle Algie kept trying to force some magic out of me through shock - he once pushed me off the end of Blackpool pier and I nearly drowned -" Ron looked scandalised at that and Seamus' mouth dropped open " - but nothing happened until I was eight. Uncle Algie came around for tea and was hanging me out of an upstairs window by one hand when Auntie Enid offered him a meringue and he accidentally let go. But I bounced all the way down the garden and into the road." Neve's voice held a note of pride in it even if her story sounded strange to the others. She smiled. "Gran was crying, she was so happy. And you should have seen their faces when I got in here - they thought I didn't have enough magic to get into Hogwarts, you see. Uncle was so pleased he bought me a toad."

Neve held up Trevor from her lap, grinning widely. Her Uncle Algie obviously meant a lot to her. Harry glanced at Hermione beside him to see what her reaction to Neve's story was since she had said her whole family were muggles - but she seemed to be too engrossed in her discussion with Ron's older brother Percy about school to pay much attention to anything else. Harry soon became drowsy from all the delicious food he had eaten; he couldn't remember a time he had been allowed to simply eat until he was completely stuffed. It was at this point that Harry let his attention drift, letting his gaze settle on the teacher's table. He recognised Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall talking to each other and Hagrid who was drinking from his goblet, Catching his eyes, the giant of a man waved at him. Harry returned the wave and smiled, then glanced at the rest of the table where he saw Professor Quirrell from Diagon Alley talking to a teacher with greasy black hair, a hooked nose and sallow skin. The black-haired teacher must've felt him looking because the next moment he was staring directly at Harry. A sudden, sharp, hot pain shot across the scar on his forehead shook him to wakefulness.

"Ouch!" Harry clapped his hand to his forehead, grimacing. Ron, who had just been about to respond to Seamus with a sarcastic comment, noticed. He swallowed, shooting him a worried look.

"You okay, mate?" he asked. Harry nodded absentmindedly. The teacher had looked away as soon as he had felt the pain.

"Yeah." he said. "You wouldn't happen to know who that is, do you?"

He pointed at the teacher in question and Ron's eyes followed where his finger pointed. He frowned.

"You mean the greasy git?" Fred chimed in from Harry's right. He nodded.

"That's Snape." George said. "That's Quirrell beside him. Poor bastard's probably being terrorised by him."

"Snape's teaching Potions but everyone knows he really wants Quirrell's job." Fred added. Harry traded a wide-eyed look with Ron, then turned to watch Snape. He didn't look over again.

At some point, the desserts disappeared and the Headmaster stood to talk about something called Quidditch, warn them about a forest on school grounds and a couple of warnings, one of which sounded very cryptic.

"What do you suppose is on the third floor?" Ron murmured as they got up. Harry shrugged.

"I don't know." he said, curiosity seeping into his voice.

The House Prefects led their first years to their dormitories. On the way there, they encountered their first Poltergeist, Peeves. He was a small but evil looking man and Harry noticed Evangeline shrinking back into her shell in fright. He quickly squeezed her shoulder and smiled when she looked up at him. She relaxed slightly and timidly smiled back.

After their Prefect Percy had gotten rid of Peeves, they continued onwards and finally stopped in front of a portrait of a fat lady. The password 'Caput Draconis' caused her to swing aside and reveal an entrance in the solid looking wall. Inside, they discovered the Gryffindor common room, a cosy, round room filled with squashy armchairs and two-seat sofas as well as a huge fireplace. Two doors led to the girls' and boys' dormitories and Harry, Ron and Evangeline wished each other a good night before going their ways. Harry glanced back to where Evangeline disappeared through the dorm door with Hermione animatedly talking to her. Evangeline seemed a bit shy but nice. He was glad she didn't seem to be so sad and lonely anymore. Harry turned back and smiled as he followed Ron into their dormitory; already he felt like Hogwarts was his home.

* * *

The first morning found Harry sitting in the Headmaster's office. Percy, the Gryffindor prefect, had taken him here after breakfast upon Dumbledore's request. Harry had worried about not being on time his first day in school, but figured if the Headmaster wanted to talk to him he couldn't refuse. And so he was sitting opposite this strange man with long white hair and beard and eyes that were much too happy this early in the day.

When he first started speaking, Harry was simply relieved that at least he wasn't in trouble, never mind that he couldn't recall having done anything wrong. However, after listening to what Dumbledore was saying, that relief quickly faded. Harry had the vague impression he was experiencing some kind of culture shock.

He stared across the desk at the Headmaster whose intertwined fingers supported his chin.

"Excuse me?" he was finally able to formulate. Dumbledore looked grave and sad.

"I am sorry, my dear boy. But now that you know the truth about your parents' passing," Harry swallowed down a sudden lump in his throat, "you must know the whole truth about the Potter family."

"The whole truth?" Harry parroted. Not only had he learned that magic actually existed - his parents had been wizards and he was one too! And all of this in the time span of just over a month.

And now he was supposed to be the sole heir to the Potter legacy which were part of wizarding nobility, a part of the wizarding society called Purebloods? What did that even mean? And what was he expected to do with that knowledge? He must have asked a question out loud because Dumbledore seemed to be answering it.

"That, my boy, is a topic too complex to explain. You see, a Pureblood is a witch or wizard who have no trace of muggleblood." At Harry's uncomprehending stare, he elaborated. "As you know, witches and wizards do not always have parents who are both of magical descent or even any." Harry thought of Seamus and Hermione and nodded. "Purebloods are those who can trace their bloodline back many generations and only find ancestors whose parents were both magical. Do you understand?"

Harry nodded again and then opened his mouth to ask a question.

"But what does that have to do with me?"

"Well, strictly speaking you are not a Pureblood, because your mother's parents were non-magical. However, because you are the only living heir of the pureblooded Potter family, you are the Head of the Potter family and automatically inherit all the titles and responsibilities associated with it."

"But what responsibilities?" Harry blurted, already beginning to feel panicked at what Dumbledore had just told him. He was just an 11-year old boy, for goodness' sake! One who hadn't even known about his magical abilities until recently. And now he was expected to… do what exactly?

"That usually differs slightly from family to family. However, we do offer a subject compulsory for every pureblooded student here unless their family specifies no instruction; it becomes an optional elective for any other student from third year onwards. Witches' and Wizards' Instruction in Traditions, Customs and Heritage (or for short, W.I.T.C.H.) teaches precisely the customs and traditions of Pureblood society, among other things. You have the option of choosing it, I will not force you to; however, I do recommend you do. It unfortunately will not teach you all you need to know -"

"I'll take the class." Harry quickly said, not even noticing that he had interrupted him. He may be only a boy, but he bore the name Potter. And if the responsibilities that came with it (and if he could learn more about his parents) were so important to the legacy his parents had left him, it was the least he could do to honour them.

Dumbledore smiled knowingly at the thought-absorbed boy over his half-moon spectacles. His heart was heavy with having to put this much pressure on the shoulders of such a young boy, but sooner or later he would have to face the reality of what it meant to be the heir to a family such as the Potters. He would rather have him ill-prepared than completely clueless.

"Then you will receive your new timetable tomorrow morning. For such an important matter, an exception can be made." Dumbledore paused. "However, there is one more matter I have to discuss with you. You see, Pureblood children usually have already received some kind of education on what it means to be a Pureblood before they come to Hogwarts. Therefore, you will have a tutor to teach you the basics of what you need to know."

"So who will be tutoring me?" Harry was almost afraid to ask. He just hoped it wasn't one of Malfoy's posse, if it was a Slytherin.

Just then there was a knock on the door.

"Enter." Dumbledore called, smiling. The door opened with a slight whine and a familiar figure entered, or better, tripped inside the room. She righted herself with a furious blush on her face, eyes hidden by a long fringe and the long, ash blonde braid twirling around her hand nervously.

"You wished to speak to me, Professor Dumbledore?" Neve asked, those unusual colour eyes flicking to Harry nervously.

Dumbledore gestured for her to sit next to Harry and nodded.

"Indeed I did."

* * *

That afternoon, after classes and before dinner, Neve joined Harry and Ron in the common room. Ron looked up in surprise but shrugged, waving at her in greeting and went back to leafing through a magazine. Harry sat up from where he was lounging in the armchair in front of the fireplace and smiled at her.

"Is something the matter?"

"Well…" she slowly said, searching for the words. She sighed. Harry looked at her questioningly. "I don't really know how to teach you, to be honest. I've never tutored anyone before."

"Tutoring in what? It's only the first day." Ron put in absentmindedly.

"Remember how I told you about what Dumbledore talked to me this morning? Neve is my tutor for it." Harry reminded Ron who nodded as he remembered.

"Right, I know. Mum and Dad didn't want us to take W.I.T.C.H. Said it was no good for decent folks since all it teaches is old-fashioned Pureblood stuff." At Neve's downtrodden expression and Harry's slight shake of his head, he hastily added, "No offence. I'm sure it's really interesting."

Neve gave a small smile.

"N-no, I think you're right. I-I mean, I'm taking it because my grandmother thinks it's important…" she trailed off. Neve quickly shook her head, ducking it apologetically. "A-anyway… I guess, I could take notes for you and share my books with you, if you want? Until you get your own at least."

"Sounds good." Harry smiled. Neve returned it shyly and Ron closed his magazine in final looking gesture. He rubbed his stomach with a large grin and looked at the other two.

"So how about going down to dinner?"

* * *

To Harry's delight, all the first year Gryffindors had their classes together, meaning he could get to know his new friends better. Unfortunately it also meant that he was in the middle of Ron's and Hermione's squabbling. Neve, who often joined them, and Harry, by silent agreement, usually said nothing when that happened, occasionally trying to break them up but since they would not be able to end their arguments anyway they eventually learned to not get in between. However, it never seemed serious and everything was just so new and fascinating to Harry that he got swept up in his new life. For the first time in his life he had friends, people who genuinely cared about him and he about them. He was learning things and was part of a world he hadn't even known existed; even the most simple of magics were awe-inspiring to him, such as the first spell they learned, _Wingardium Leviosa_. Hermione clearly shared his enthusiasm, being muggleborn and not familiar with much magic either, though she was clearly gifted. This was probably the main reason why Ron rather disliked her; Neve, however, asked her for help whenever she needed it and that happened very frequently. Hermione always provided it happily; sometimes Harry caught her sneaking longing glances at the three of them and he couldn't help thinking that she was lonely. According to Neve, when Harry once asked, Hermione was on speaking terms with most of their dorm mates but not particularly close to any of them. Harry felt bad for her and didn't even mind her that much; it was Ron,, one of his first best friends, he was worried about losing if he included her in their little group.

But so far, every good thing that had happened to him was accompanied by a bad side effect and so it was this time as well. Even Neve and Hermione, who both seemed to be open-minded and non-judgemental, agreed with Harry and Ron that Potions and Flying lessons with the Slytherins were the worst. The boys had already taken a dislike to Potions in their first lesson; it was taught by Professor Snape, the teacher who Harry had already noticed staring at him during the welcome feast in the beginning of the year. Back then, the great hooked nose, long black hair and dark eyes had already seemed menacing enough; but during Potions Snape was downright hostile. It didn't help that he clearly favoured his own House and made the Gryffindors his personal verbal punching bags, or that he was obviously targeting Harry out of some personal grudge he was holding. That already was enough to get Harry seething but what made him even angrier was the bullying Neve had to endure on hands of the Potions master and the other Slytherins; having been bullied himself, he felt a sort of kinship with her. Neve's fear of Snape he could understand; his permanent bad mood coupled with his appearance and billowing black cape which made him look like a giant bat made for an intimidating picture. It was even worse when directed at one single person. But the Slytherin students bullied her because of her clumsiness which only made her fear and nervousness during Potions increase, causing her to keep giving wrong answers when called on and melting her cauldron more than once. It made Harry feel angry on her behalf but also helpless; Snape clearly turned blind and deaf if it came to the Slytherins misbehaving. However, as much as his dislike for Snape grew (and Harry was sure the feeling was mutual), the stabbing pain in his forehead didn't happen in his presence again.

Flying lessons were different; both him and Ron enjoyed them and the sense of freedom flying brought them. Hermione and Neve didn't; the former because it was something instinctual which you couldn't learn, the latter because she already had her fair share of accidents with solid ground under her feet, never mind what being in midair would do to her appalling sense of coordination. As predicted, Neve came out of their first lesson (a Friday to boot) with a broken wrist; as she was led away by their teacher Madam Hooch, Harry had to suppress the urge to run after her. His worry for her quickly turned into anger, though, when Malfoy snatched a gift off the ground which Neve had dropped. She had received it just that morning from home, a so-called Remembrall.

Harry's eventually successful attempt to get it back for her resulted in a miracle: their Head of the House, Professor McGonagall, ended up making him the Seeker of the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

"'The youngest Seeker in a century', she said." Harry told Ron and Neve enthusiastically during dinner, trying to ignore the guilty twinge at the sight of her bandaged right wrist. The three of them had picked Neve up from the hospital wing after class where Madame Pomfrey had to let her heal the non-magical way as she had run out of potion and the break was too complicated for her to heal with a spell. She dismissed them with strict orders to keep the wrist still and promised to administer Neve a healing potion as soon as she had new ones in. Harry had given her the Remembrall on the way to dinner; she had taken it back with a shy thank you.

Neve, who sitting beside Hermione and opposite the boys, smiled at the news, quietly congratulating Harry. Ron was even more excited than him, but according to him Quidditch was the best game in existence. Hermione was the only one frowning.

"That's all well and good, but you still disobeyed a teacher and probably broke a few school rules to boot. You really should have been more cautious, Harry." she reprimanded. Ron rolled his eyes in irritation and Neve looked conflicted, gaze flitting between the girl and the two boys. Harry didn't quite know what to say; he knew she was right but everything had ended well or not? As he was struggling to come up with a response, the Weasley twins joined their conversation.

"Oh, what's life without a little rule-breaking?" they chorused. They appeared on either side of where Ron and Harry sat, grinning at the bushy-haired, indignant girl. They turned to Harry, patting his shoulders. "Well done, Harry! Welcome to the team!"

"They're the Beaters." Ron explained when Harry stared in surprise.

"We sure are. And with you on the team as well -" Fred started.

"- we could actually win the Quidditch Cup this year!" George finished enthusiastically. Fred continued. "Yeah, old Snape's been grinning way too much lately."

"That Cup deserves better than those dingy old dungeons." George added.

They told him stories of past Quidditch matches in enthusiastic detail until Harry was itching to be on a broomstick and zooming through the air.

Neve's first tutoring session with Harry was on their first Saturday at Hogwarts. They had agreed that this was a good day as Sunday seemed to be the unofficial 'fun-day' for most students. Neve had also asked if it could be more of an all-around study day and if Hermione could join. Harry hadn't minded; he had asked Ron if he wanted to come but he had declined in order to sleep in. He had said he might join them later. The three of them went to the library as soon as they were done with breakfast, Harry wondering if W.I.T.C.H. was as interesting as his other subjects. After passing Madam Pince's inspection of their bags, they found an empty table. Unsurprisingly, the library was very empty. After unpacking their things, Neve pulled out a piece of parchment on which she had written a sort of checklist. Harry pulled it closer, admiring the penmanship; it looked closer to calligraphy than anything written by a school student. Hermione was obviously interested as well; she kept trying to glance over his shoulder at the list while at the same time keeping an eye on their Transfiguration essay. Judging by Neve's guilty look she had done as much of it as him.

"W.I.T.C.H only starts next week, so you at least don't have to catch up on any lessons. But there's still a lot of other stuff; I wrote down what we're expected to know by now." Neve started a little nervously, looking back at her list and twisting the end of her braid around her finger. Harry noticed she did that a lot. She continued, "Most of us are able to speak three or four foreign languages by the time we become adults; the most common ones are Latin, French, Italian, Spanish, German and Russian. By now, we are expected to know one foreign language and start another in W.I.T.C.H. Instead of after-school clubs, we have lessons."

Neve stopped at the wide-eyed stare Harry Hermione traded; she had given up all pretense of writing the essay and was listening attentively.

"That's a lot to learn." he said weakly after a moment. "And isn't W.I.T.C.H. a subject in the regular timetable?"

"Yes. But because there is so much to learn, we have to attend after-school classes as well." Neve explained, a little calmer now. She had stopped twirling her braid. She looked at him a little worriedly as he frowned down at the list in his hand. "I'll just quickly finish telling you what the basics are, alright?" At his nod, she continued, "We're expected to know social dances like ballroom and need to play at least one musical instrument. Oh, and we need to learn proper Pureblood etiquette, like for social situations."

Harry looked up in faint amusement when she stopped.

"What, that's it?" he asked in a joking manner. "No more surprises like the languages?"

"Well…"

"Oh, no." Harry quietly groaned, stopping when he saw Neve's crestfallen face. Hermione looked at him a disapprovingly. "Sorry, I didn't mean it. Go on."

"Are you sure? You could just pick something off the list." Neve offered quietly.

"It's alright, Neve. I'm sure he can handle it. As for me, I find this fascinating. I wish I could do W.I.T.C.H as well." Hermione reassured her. Harry laughed a bit and nodded. He gestured for her to continue and she smiled. "You'll also need to learn hand-to-hand combat and duelling at some point."

"Duelling with magic?" Harry asked a little too eagerly. He had never been keen on violence, but if he could defend himself from bullies and use magic to do it, he was all for it. Hermione rolled her eyes, determined now to finish her essay.

"Yes. I can't teach you that, though." Neve added, feeling bad at the disappointment on his face.

"Why not?"

"According to old traditions, it's 'not ladylike'." Neve could barely suppress her eye roll; according to her grandmother, that was not ladylike either. It was a good thing she didn't know about the sort of 'un-ladylike' things her Uncle Algie taught her. She liked Uncle Algie. Harry frowned.

"But what if you got attacked when you're by yourself?" Hermione asked very logically, rejoining the subject. Neve shrugged helplessly.

"Is there anything on the list you're feel familiar with? Something you might find easier to do than other things?" she asked instead of answering. Harry's hopeless look at her list was enough but just as she was about to suggest something, he looked up with a question in his eyes.

"Maybe you could explain to me what it exactly means, to be a Pureblood? Dumbledore told me about the whole Halfblood and Muggleblood thing with the parentage, but is it really that important? Why isn't it just magical and non-magical?"

Neve fidgeted a little. Of course she knew; she was part of it. But that didn't mean she had to like it. Hermione was once again looking very interested as well; after all, she knew about as much about this as Harry did.

"The difference in terms comes from a long time ago. They really shouldn't mean anything anymore or be used at all." Neve explained quietly. "Back when magic was freely accepted and even admired, we had nothing to be scared of. It didn't matter if we were muggleborn, pure - or halfblooded. We co-existed with muggles, respected each other, had our freedom and married who we loved; our magic often gave us certain privileges. But when the church began to hunt us down, we needed to hide. We decided to separate our world from the muggles' for our own protection and that it was safer to stick to our own people. We began to only marry each other, to become stronger and better able to protect each other. Of course, there have always been those who didn't care and still married for love, not survival. That's where the whole differentiating comes in. Purebloods are those who married for survival; for us, it became tradition and simply stayed the way it's been for centuries. There are families who believe," Neve swallowed down her irritation and forced herself to continue, " that being a Pureblood makes us better, more valuable and cleverer than others."

"That's not true!" Harry protested, glancing at Hermione. She had gone white, her lips pressed together in a tight line. Her eyes shone in outrage. Madam Pince shushed at them furiously from behind a bookshelf she was dusting beside their table. He lowered his voice. "You know, that's a lie, Neve."

"Yeah. But that doesn't make that belief go away." she replied in thinly veiled disgust. She paused, chewing her lip and looked at them. They were tense. "Should I explain Halfbloods and Muggleborns too?" After a short pause, he nodded. Neve continued, "Halfbloods are those who come from a marriage between a muggle and a witch or wizard, who may be half - or pureblooded, or even muggleborn. Muggleborns," here she glanced at Hermione who had stiffened a little, " are those witches and wizards whose parents are both non-magical. There are theories though, that say that most muggleborns do have magic in their blood; it's just from so long ago, that the family doesn't remember and not enough magic is there to make sure all descendants are magical. Some say it's a mutation."

Harry frowned; Hermione looked intrigued, her anger forgotten.

"I think I prefer to just see all witches and wizards as equal." Harry finally said after a long silence. Hermione nodded passionately and Neve smiled.

"Me too."

There was a short pause in which they hung after their own thoughts. Hermione quickly scribbled something onto her essay paper, then laid her quill down.

"Well, then. Have you done your Transfiguration essays yet?" she asked brightly. "I can help you if you like. Or did you want to do Potions first?"

Both Harry and Neve gave twin groans at the mention of either. Hermione fought to keep a stern face but ended up grinning.

"How about I let you read my essay and you take notes? You can start on yours and I can proof read them when you're done."

It was obvious she thought she was being generous but Harry couldn't help but feel a twitch of irritation. But he really did need her help, for Potions at least. Neve had already taken up her offer and was taking notes on her own piece of parchment. Harry smiled at Hermione even though it was a little forced.

"I think I'll be doing Potion notes first."

"Yes, I'll do that too. I know he said two rolls of parchment, but there's just so much…" Hermione trailed off worriedly and Harry quickly opened his Potions book to hide his exasperation. He really hoped Ron would turn up sooner rather than later.

* * *

The next day after his first Quidditch practise, Harry was called into McGonagall's office. He hoped she didn't expect him to look very presentable; after all, he had just spent a good portion of the day in midair on a broom. Harry already knew that he loved to fly; but the broom he had been given reminded of an elderly person - slow to react to his movements, insecure and hard to control. At least he hadn't fallen off yet. As Harry was standing in front of McGonagall's office and tugged at his already unruly and now windswept hair, he wondered if being called by teachers would be a regular occurrence before he knocked.

"You wanted to see me, Professor?" he asked politely after stepping inside. A long, brown paper wrapped package lay on her desk. She smiled and stood, coming around.

"Yes. I apologise for calling on you on the weekend, but this is not strictly a school matter and will not take long." she said, turning back to the desk and taking the package. She then offered it to him. "I do believe you will be needing this at Quidditch practise. I hope it serves you well."

After a cautious look at his teacher's face, Harry carefully took it and unwrapped it. He gaped at what was inside.

The same broom he had been admiring in Diagon Alley not so long ago.

"Thank you, Professor." he whispered reverently, his fingers skimming across the sleek, smooth handle, admiring the texture and glossy finish.

Professor McGonagall smiled a little sadly at the boy who was now examining the tail of the broom, not even the tiniest twig out of place. It was moments like these when his upbringing was the most obvious; of a neglected boy, never having known the kindnesses of a loving family. She caught herself becoming sentimental, thinking back to when she had been a new teacher and her first students being a particular boy looking like Harry and having a penchant for danger and an intelligent, kind redhead. McGonagall silently reprimanded herself and pulled herself back to the present.

"You may go now, Mr Potter." she said to still fascinated boy. He looked up and gave her a heartfelt smile. He nodded and turned toward the door, turning before he left and opening and closing his mouth, not knowing what to say.

"Thank you." he finally said and ducked out the door. He could hardly wait to tell Ron about the broom!

* * *

The morning of Harry's first Quidditch match he felt nauseous. It didn't help that hadn't slept well due to nerves and nightmares. What if he was so nervous he couldn't get off the ground? What if he got hit by a Bludger as soon as he was in the air? What his broom refused to obey him? What if -

Harry must have gone down to breakfast with Ron because someone was pushing two slices of toast with scrambled eggs in front of his face. He stared down at the food, his stomach clenching.

"You've got to eat some breakfast." Ron said. Harry shook his head. The smell of breakfast and excited chatter filled the Great Hall, but he was anything but happy. What had he been _thinking_, joining the Quidditch team?

"I'm not hungry."

Neve traded a frown with Hermione.

"Just have a bit of dry toast, then." she suggested.

"You'll need your strength, Harry, Seekers are always the first to be attacked." Seamus said through a mouthful of sausage. Harry felt his stomach turn over.

"Thanks."

As Fred and George came over to march Harry to the changing rooms, Neve smiled at him encouragingly.

"You'll do fine, Harry. You'll see." she reassured him. He sent a weak smile back at her and half-heartedly reciprocated Ron's high five before leaving. He heard his dorm mates, Neve and Hermione muttering something behind him. It sounded like Ron and Hermione were, for once agreeing with each other. Now he was sure his nerves become bad enough his hearing was playing tricks on him.

Harry was shaking by the time the team entered the pitch. Oliver's speech had calmed him a little but seeing and hearing the crowd outside sent his heartbeat racing again. His eyes automatically searched for his friends in the crowd. When he found them, he felt a surge of courage and grinned.

There they were, right at the front, waving a banner with _Potter for President _written across it and a large Gryffindor lion drawn underneath which changed colour.

Madam Hooch told the team captains to shake hands, warning them she wanted a fair game. Then she told everyone to get on their brooms. As soon as they did, she blew her whistle and threw the Quaffle she was holding high in the air. The game had officially begun.

For the first half, Harry was circling the pitch and keeping his eyes open for the Snitch. He was listening to Jordan's running commentary on the game's proceedings but keeping out of it, keeping Oliver's plan in mind.

Then he saw it. In a great rush of excitement he dived downwards after the streak of gold. Slytherin Seeker Terence Higgs had seen it too and neck to neck, they hurtled toward the Snitch. Harry was pulling up ahead, just a tiny bit, the little golden ball only a few feet in front of him - and was suddenly blocked by Marcus Flint, the Slytherin Captain. Harry was just able to hold on, shooting him a dirty look. Flint just smirked. Harry heard the Gryffindor supporters boo at the action but obviously Slytherin thought it was worth it even though Gryffindor got a free pass.

The outrage following this last manoeuvre had just calmed down when Harry's broom gave a sudden jerk. For a split second, he thought he was going to fall, gripping the handle tightly with his hands and knees, his heart hammering in his chest. Nothing more happened and he relaxed slightly. But then it did it again. And again.

Harry tried to turn to Oliver to ask for a timeout but the Nimbus Two Thousand was completely out of his control. It was bucking wildly, trying to throw him off while Jordan was still commentating the game. The broom was going higher and higher, away from the game and twitching violently all the while. No one seemed to notice.

"Dunno what Harry thinks he's doing." Hagrid mumbled. He had joined the other five earlier and was watching through his giant binoculars. The banner wavered as Seamus and Ron holding it focused on Harry. Dean, Hermione and Neve looked on worriedly.

"It almost looks like he lost control of his broom…" Neve whispered. Ron shook his head.

"That's not possible." he said. They all watched tensely.

Suddenly, people were pointing up at Harry all over the stands. His broom had started to roll over and over, with him only just managing to hold on. The whole crowd gasped. Harry's broom had given a wild jerk and Harry swung off it. He was now dangling from it, holding on with only one hand.

"Did something happen to it when Flint blocked him?" Seamus asked. Hagrid shook his giant head.

"Impossible. No kid could have done anything to it. Only powerful dark magic could do that to that broom."

Hermione quickly grabbed Hagrid's binoculars from him and searched the crowd with it.

"What are you doing?" Ron asked half annoyed, half desperate. Hermione didn't answer, still searching. Then she gasped.

"I knew it. It's Snape - look!"

Ron took the binoculars from her, Neve, Seamus and Dean wide-eyed. Hermione was right - there Snape was, eyes intently fixed on Harry's form and lips constantly moving as if chanting.

"He's doing something - jinxing the broom." Hermione said.

"What should w-we d-do?" Neve asked, stammering in fright and eyes shining with suppressed tears. The other girl frowned.

"Leave it to me."

Before anyone could protest, she was gone. Ron groaned.

"What's that nutter up to now?"

Ron looked through the binoculars again, watching as Harry was still struggling to get back on the broom as it swished back and forth violently.

"Come on, Hermione." he murmured urgently.

A commotion over at the teacher's area drew their attention. Snape was wildly trampling on the hem of his robe which was flickering with small flames and giving off puffs of smoke. By the time it was gone, Harry was back on his broom. Neve stopped sobbing into Hagrid's jacket as he nudged to signal her everything was alright and Seamus and Dean whooped. Ron gaped as he saw a familiar head full of bushy brown hair behind the teachers' stands disappear. She had actually set a teacher on fire! Maybe Hermione wasn't as bad as he had thought she was.

After that, the game was quickly over. Harry caught the Snitch long before Higgs had even spotted it and Gryffindor was declared the winner. Everyone except the Slytherins whooped as the teams landed on the pitch.

By agreement of all involved, Harry's dorm mates and the two girls didn't tell Harry about what Snape had attempted to do during the game. He deserved to be happy and celebrate tonight.

* * *

Harry was still grinning by the time he went to bed; being as quiet as possible so he didn't bother his sleeping dorm mates. Today had been his first Quidditch match. And they had won! It had been an incredible feeling when his hand had closed around the Snitch and its fluttering wings stopped beating. In honour of their victory, their dorm had thrown a huge celebration. He could still hear them, even though McGonagall had already come in earlier to shut it down.

Harry had just crawled into his bed when he saw a silky square of fabric lying at the foot of his bed. He curiously took it; it felt as silky as it looked and seemed to shimmering in the moonlight. A note fell out when he unfolded it. Quickly tapping his table lamp with his wand, it lit up enough to read it and not disturb his sleeping dorm mates. It said:

_Your father left this in my possession before he died._

_It was time it was returned to you._

_Use it well._

_PS: Congratulations on your victory._

Turning the note around, he saw no signature. He looked back at the fabric in his hand, shaking it out to see it completely. It was a cloak. Glancing around to make sure everyone was asleep, Harry quickly threw it over and tiptoed into the bathroom to look into the mirror. What he saw made his jaw drop.

Or better, what he didn't see.

As the cloak had made all it covered invisible. His reflection was a gaping, floating head with slightly uneven glasses and a bird's nest of hair.

A not necessarily good idea shot through Harry's head and he grinned. He probably wasn't thinking straight since it was late and he was still somewhat pumped up from earlier. And so he covered his head with the cloak as well, the mirror proving him to be completely out of sight. Harry's grin grew wider. It was time for a midnight stroll.

Harry hadn't been walking around for long, taking his time as he strolled down corridors and curiously looked at the moving paintings and armours lining them, when he could hear a distant meowing. An icy shiver tingled down his spine at the sound. That could only be Mrs Norris and she could move faster than lightning; and where she was, Mr Filch wasn't far behind. He quickly walked around the corner and pushed the nearest door he saw, hoping it would open. It did and Harry quickly shut it behind him, locking it.

"Who's there?"

Harry whirled around at the question in alarm, wondering if he was visible again. He saw the silhouette of a figure among what looked to be chairs and desks. The figure was taking a couple of steps toward him, the candle it was holding shaking slightly. It was too far away from the person's face to tell who it was but Harry recognised it. He slipped the cloak off.

"Neve?"

She gave a shocked gasp and the candle swivelled in his direction.

"What are you doing here?" they both asked at the same time. Harry automatically grinned and walked toward her.

"I felt like walking around for a bit." he said dismissively, keeping the cloak behind his back. It felt like a little piece of the family he had never known, too private to show anyone yet. Neve looked at him with wide eyes.

"Aren't you scared you'll get caught?" she asked.

"I could ask you the same thing. What _are _you doing, anyway?"

She half turned away from him and beckoned him over. Her head was slightly turned up as she looked at something propped against the wall, her hair as always in a neat braid.

"I found this a few days ago when I was hiding from M-Malfoy and his f-friends." she told him over her shoulder, a slight stutter in her voice. Harry felt a stab of anger but before he could say anything, she continued. "Take a look at this."

He came to stand beside her and saw what she was looking at: a mirror. It was as high as the ceiling, with an ornate gold frame and standing on two clawed feet. There was an inscription carved around the top: _Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi_.

"What does that mean?" he asked, pointing. When Neve didn't answer, he looked at her and saw her looking in the mirror, the expression on her face a cross between sadness and joy. He glanced at it and then looked back again with wide eyes. For the second time that night his mouth fell open in shock and surprise.

In the mirror, he saw not Neve and himself. Instead, it was just him - but with a crowd of people standing behind him. There were people with eyes like his, or his nose, or his hair. He even saw an old man with his knobbly knees. At the very front, right behind him, Harry saw a young woman with dark red hair - and his eyes. Beside her stood a tall, thin man with glasses and Harry's unruly black hair. The woman was smiling at Harry but she was crying at the same time. The man smiled at him as well, putting an arm around the woman. Harry's throat dried up when he realised he was seeing his family - his parents.

"Mum? Dad?" he whispered, stepping forward as if in trance.

"You see your parents?" Neve's quiet voice startled him out of his state and Harry blinked. She was looking at him curiously and he was feeling slightly resentful. Why couldn't she leave him be?

"Can you see them too?" he asked, feeling guilty. Neve shook her head.

"No." She turned back toward the mirror. "I see mine."

Harry didn't know what to say. He turned back to the mirror, feeling a great sense of relief when his parents were still there.

"Do you know what the mirror does?" he asked absentmindedly. Neve shrugged.

"I'll tell you if you promise to go back to bed."

They both turned so fast, it was a miracle they didn't twist anything. There, leaning against a desk behind them was Dumbledore, smiling.

"You really shouldn't be wandering around this late at night." he said. He stood and came to stand beside them, looking in the mirror. "This is the Mirror of Erised."

"It's called Erised, sir?" Harry asked. "Where does that come from?"

"_Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi_." Neve said softly, pointing at the inscription. Dumbledore smiled at her.

"Yes. I have seen you here before, Miss Longbottom." Neve flinched guiltily. "Have you thought about what this mirror does?"

She turned to look into it again, eyes once more sad.

"Yes. But I don't know, I only see my family the way I wish they were." She unconsciously moved closer. "I wish for it more than anything."

Something in Harry clenched at the heartbreaking tone in her voice and he looked at his parents again. The wheels in his head began to turn.

"The mirror… it shows us what we want…whatever we want…" he said slowly. He could tell Dumbledore was nodding out of the corner of his eye.

"Yes and no." he said quietly. "It shows us nothing more or less than the deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts. _I show not your face, but your heart__'__s desire_. _Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi_."

Neve and Harry's eyes automatically flicked upwards at the inscription. Now it made sense.

"I do know that Erised is tempting, but I ask you not to go looking for it anymore, especially not at night. It will be moved to a new location tomorrow." Dumbledore smiled kindly at both their frowns. "It does not do well to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that. Now, how about you go back to bed? You must be tired."

Harry nodded, numb from having had the chance to see his parents taken away from him so fast. But he couldn't bring himself to resent Dumbledore for it. He threw the Invisibility cloak over Neve and himself, forgetting to keep it private for now and they left. He could the Headmaster's eyes following them even though he told himself that was impossible. Somehow, he always seemed to know everything.

By the time the two of them had gotten back to the common room, after having groused a very displeased Fat Lady from her sleep, his euphoric post-Quidditch mood was thoroughly ruined. He took the cloak off as soon as they were inside. To her credit, Neve didn't ask about it. She didn't seem to he in a happy mood either.

They didn't talk to each other about their nightly adventure; they only quietly wished each other a good night and went to their respective dorms.

* * *

How is it so far? I admit the beginning is a little slow. But please do tell me what you think. And since I have seen this elsewhere and it worked (I admit, I also like knowing people like what I read - I like compliments as much as the next person (;) I think I'll try this too: I will update within the week if I get, say, 3 reviews for this chapter? Even if it's just a short sentence to know you read it? Please?


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer in first chapter**

A/N: Thank you so much for reviewing, favouriting and/or adding this to your alert! Also, special thanks to Im ITy and harryfan160889 for the reviews, they do mean a lot and are motivating, especially if it's about things I can improve :)

Another A/N at the end of this chapter and I apologise for any typos. I've been writing for hours and it's a bit past 3 a.m. now, so I haven't bothered proof-reading it.

To **Guest**, I'm sorry I can't respond to you directly, but if you're still reading this, here's my reply:

Thank you for taking your time to read and comment, also for the compliments. If this is too much like canon for your taste, I'm sorry. It's how I started this story and I plan to have a lot of canon in it. I'm not going to rehash the whole series (firstly, because J. is an awesome writer who I can't even begin to compare to and secondly, because it would take way too long. She's written 7 books of which each one is several hundred pages long, after all). I admit the first year is a lot like canon because I got so stuck in the idea of teh challenge. Thing is, the way I want to write it, the really interesting stuff with original story lines will begin to happen around when they're in year 4/5 onwards.

So again, thank you for reading in the first place. If you don't want to continue reading, that's fine. I don't want to narrate HP anymore than I want to read it. A bit hypocritical of me since I've posted this, but true. If you do continue reading, then I thank you very much for giving me a chance.

Now, on with the story! I'm sorry if this really confused you, so I won't keep you long. Here's chapter 2!

* * *

The Christmas holidays came and went past far too quickly. Granted, Hermione and Neve had both left to go home, leaving Harry and Ron to themselves, but they all enjoyed their time off and wrote each other regularly. They tried to follow the study plans Hermione had made for them but only managed to do so for the first few days rather halfheartedly before giving up.

For Christmas, Harry was surprised and touched by the variety of presents he got - a combined gift basket from _Honeydukes _(according to Fred and George the best Sweet shop in all of Britain) which they had ordered and delivered by owl, a cuddly knitted sweater from Ron's mum and a rough, wooden flute from Hagrid which had been handmade. He was ashamed that he hadn't given any presents, something he wrote to the girls who replied they didn't mind and simply hoped he enjoyed their gift. Harry shared the basket with Ron as apology who hadn't even been cross in the first place but accepted the sweets nonetheless. The rest of the holidays they enjoyed by playing outside in the snow, or joining in on pranks with the Weasley twins or playing indoor games with their dorm mates. But time goes quickly when having fun, and the holidays soon drew to a close. Harry and Ron were happy to reunite with Neve and Hermione again, but they all agreed they wouldn't have minded another week or two.

* * *

Harry hadn't been especially surprised when he had been told about Snape trying to make him fall off his broom, but that didn't mean he wasn't angry. It just didn't make any sense; he had already gone through the topic countless times on his own and with Ron during the holidays, but it still nagged at the back of his head. Why would he try to kill a student on school grounds?

He said so to Neve on their first day of school on their way to their afternoon W.I.T.C.H classes; he hadn't been able to discuss it with her or Hermione yet.

"Snape's scary. I'd imagine he is capable of a lot of illogical things." Neve said. They entered their classroom and settled themselves into the far corner, as far away from the Slytherin students as possible. They made up about half of the class but there weren't that many first years so it wasn't too hard.

Nearly all of the Slytherin first years were there - Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, Pansy Parkinson, Blaise Zabini, Theodore Nott, Daphne Greengrass - jeered when they came in. They ignored them. Apart from them, there were no other Gryffindors present, only one Ravenclaw girl, Anna Collins (or as Harry had dubbed her, Icy Anne), who didn't talk to anyone and instead turned up her nose anytime she walked past them and one somewhat pompous Hufflepuff boy, Ernie McMillan, who seemed to trail them.

"Good day, you two." he greeted them once they sat down. Harry mumbled a greeting while Neve smiled at him in a friendly manner.

"Good day to you too, Ernie." she said, then turned to unpack her bag. Ernie's ears turned pink. Harry rolled his eyes and followed Neve's example. Ernie looked like he was about to say more but then their teacher already swept into the classroom, calling out a cheery greeting.

Professor Giovanni was a young Italian teacher who always seemed to be cheerful and grinning, so his very white teeth flashed against his tan skin. He had dark eyes and black hair like Harry, but unlike his, it was smooth, shiny and nearly shoulder length. He also refused to wear the robes the other teachers wore; instead, he usually wore things Harry seemed to remember from those fashion catalogues he had seen delivered to the Dursley's as junk mail or from Petunia's neatly organised fashion magazines on the coffee table.

He always heard the Slytherin girls sighing about his good looks when class was over; Harry thought he was too short. But he supposed there had to be some truth to it since even Icy Anne always had a faint blush on her face when Giovanni called out her name from the class list (like now) or when she answered questions.

Giovanni finished taking down names for the list and came around the teacher's desk to sit on it. That was another thing; he always sat on the desk, refusing to sit behind it.

"So class," he began with his slight Italian accent (Harry could've sworn he heard swooning from the Slytherin side), "can anyone tell me what we did last lesson?"

"We discussed important Pureblood families throughout history and their significance today." Icy Anne promptly answered after Giovanni had indicated for her to speak.

"Excellent. And who can tell me who the most important Pureblood families are?" Giovanni moved to pick up some chalk and drew a table, titling it 'Pureblood VIFs' and writing 'past' and 'present' above each column. Parkinson's hand shot up.

"The Malfoys." she simpered, throwing the platinum blonde a few seats away from a coy look. He smirked and leaned back as he put his hand up as well. The teacher wrote down the name in both columns with a nod, then picked Malfoy.

"The Blacks." he said smoothly.

Harry cursed inwardly. Those were the only names he remembered out of the many there were, if only because one sounded so simple and the other he hated with a passion.

"The Medici." Zabini said, then paused as he grinned arrogantly. "And the Zabini's in 'present'." Laughter rang out from their corner. Someone said, "Good one, Blaise!"

Ernie looked away in disgust and Neve hunched her shoulders over as she leaned into her notes. Harry was leafing through his own.

The names on the blackboard slowly increased and the three of them quietly copied them down, trying to ignore the Slytherins' amused chatter. When the table was completed, Giovanni gave them their homework - writing an essay based on chapter 9 and 10 in one of their books, _The Noble Houses of Purebloods and their Legacy _- and dismissed their class. Ernie left with Neve and Harry.

"I do have to admit today was a rather lax class. I think I'll enjoy that homework quite a bit though." he said, already skimming the chapters as he walked. He suddenly got pushed to the side by someone forcing their way through the gap between him and Neve, causing her to stumble into Harry on her other side. She gasped in shock, muttering sorry's as Harry steadied her. She helped Ernie up and looked around to see who had done it.

The culprit was quickly discovered as he was still standing in front of them, flanked by his fellow Slytherins. Malfoy grinned at her evilly.

"Didn't see you there, Longbottom. Must have mistaken you for that statue of that fat noble lady over there." he sneered, then turned around, Crabbe, Goyle and Parkinson sniggering behind him. Neve was staring after them with a mixture of anger, fright and hurt on her face. Her lower lip trembled.

Zabini was waiting for them a little further down the corridor, leaning against the wall with a bored expression. He said something to them as they arrived and they disappeared around the corner.

Ernie was seething with anger. Harry understood him completely.

"How dare he talk to a lady like that!" Ernie snarled, looking like he was going to run after them. Instead, he turned back to Neve, the anger in his eyes dimming slightly. "I'll avenge you, do not fret!" And he was off.

Neve quickly wiped her eyes, not wanting to cry again, but a sob escaped her. Harry pulled her into an one-armed hug. Her head settled on his shoulder, her face turned toward neck. She was shaking and he could feel something wet seeping into his shirt. His chest clenched unpleasantly, his anger still there but dominated by worry for her.

"Don't let them get to you. They're not worth it." Harry quietly said. She didn't answer and he started walking her to the Great Hall; it was only one corner away and the thought of dinner set his stomach growling. By the time they had entered, Neve had wiped her eyes some more and stopped crying; the only evidence left was a wet patch on Harry's shirt which he hid by pulling his school robe over it. She was still shaking though as they sat down next to Ron and Hermione.

"What happened?" Hermione asked, immediately noticing the tremble and Neve's slightly pink eyes and nose. She ducked her head.

"M-Malfoy. He insulted me." she mumbled, refusing to touch the plate of potato mash and gravy Hermione sat in front of her. Ron looked at her incredulously. They all knew it wasn't the first time this had happened. Harry's hand found Neve's under the table, giving a comforting squeeze.

"You've got to stand up to him, Neve!" Ron demanded. "He's used to walking all over people, but that's no reason to lie down in front of him and make it easier."

"There's no need to tell me I'm not brave enough to be in Gryffindor, Malfoy's already done that too!" she burst out, choking as fresh tears welled up. Hermione sniffed at Ron's tone and patted Neve's hand. Harry hugged her again, briefly, discreetly pushing her favourite dish hear her plate.

"You're worth twelve of Malfoy." Harry said. "The Sorting Hat chose you for Gryffindor, didn't it? And where's Malfoy?", he spat the name, "In stinking Slytherin."

"Need us to take revenge on someone?" Fred suddenly popped up, grinning.

"'cause we're itching to flex our prank muscles." George added with an identical grin. "We just got a new batch of _Zonko__'__s_ best we want to try out, so -"

" - if you know any unwilling volunteers to test them, let us know." Fred finished, winking.

Neve's lips twitched upward in a weak smile. She looked up, meeting the concerned and angry (in case of the twins, mischievous) gazes. Harry suddenly thought of an idea and grinned. He turned to the twins. He wasn't asking them to do it, but he would need their help.

"Actually, there is something…"

* * *

"Stop squirming…"

"Don't pull so much!"

"Ouch! Ron, that was my foot!"

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neve barely fit under Harry's Invisibility cloak together and this, coupled with bad coordination, caused a bit of a chaos as they snuck around the castle at night. Originally, it had been meant to be the twins and Harry, but as soon as the other three had gotten wind of the plan, they had wanted in. The twins had graciously given up their positions ("O'course, I'd want to be there for my own revenge too, if it was me." "We're so proud of our little ickle-Ronnykins for taking an interest in the family business!" "Don't call me that! And what family business?"), in favour of letting them take their places. Ron had been rather upfront about how gleeful he was at the aspect of pranking the Slytherins while Neve seemed to think it was her duty to be there. She had been shaking when she said she would come with but had insisted. The only person who didn't make sense was Hermione. When asked why, she had blushed furiously and said something about how they would need a babysitter to see they didn't get into trouble. Even though the words were patronising and had resulted in to one of Ron and Hermione's familiar squabbles, Harry had smiled. It was obvious she was simply worried about them.

This was why the four of them were now scrabbling underneath the cloak while they slowly shuffled toward the Slytherin common room (following a makeshift, interactive map given to them by the twins; tapping once with a wand to magnify a spot and one more time to zoom out. The password, where they had it from was anyone's guess, was scribbled into a corner). After what seemed like an eternity, they had finally arrived.

"No wonder Slytherins are always in such a bad mood." Ron whispered, after being reprimanded by Hermione once again. "The dungeons aren't a exactly a place of sunshine."

Neve shuddered in the cold, damp air and looked around at the surrounding darkness, unconsciously twirling her braid again. Even Hermione, usually calm, collected and logical, looked a little scared. Harry swallowed, looking up at the gargoyle supposedly guarding the entrance. He just hoped the password was the right one. As good as this idea had seemed during dinner where it had been warm and friendly, once it had been set in motion it didn't seem quite as cosy anymore. Harry urged them all to shuffle a little closer to the gargoyle so he didn't have to shout when they heard someone's foot steps drawing closer. They all jumped in panic, backing up until they remembered they were invisible.

The footsteps sounded like they were just around the corner, clicking ominously on the cold stone floor and echoing around the walls. Then, a person finally came into sight. It was Zabini, the one who always looked bored during classes. The four of them pressed to the wall opposite of the gargoyle as he passed them. His dark eyes flicked around the corridor suspiciously - or maybe that was just the typical Slytherin look - before stopping in front of the common room's guardian. The gargoyle's stone eyelids snapped open and glowed in an eerie green. Its maw opened, two rows of sharp, long teeth visible beneath the short, dragon-like snout.

"Password?" it asked in a guttural, deep voice.

"Salazar." Zabini replied. The gargoyle's eyes and maw closed and he slid to the side, a rumbling accompanying it as it scraped along the wall to reveal a rectangular hole. There seemed to be nothing but blackness but Zabini slipped inside without hesitation. The four underneath the cloak quickly followed suit as the gargoyle was already moving back into place. A final sounding, dull bang sounded as it covered the hole fully and Neve could the feel the complete darkness starting to press in on her. But it only lasted a split second and torches set into the walls lit up the short tunnel. The four held still when they saw Zabini had only been a couple of feet in front of them. When he started walking again, the Gryffindors followed as quietly as they could, thankful now that Hermione had come with them and cast a muffling charm on their shoes before they had left. Zabini opened the wooden door at the end of the tunnel and stepped through, the sounds of lively chatter becoming louder. By the time the four followed, he had tried to shut the door halfway, eliciting a muffled noise of pain from Ron as it hit his head. Luckily the talking inside covered it and Zabini didn't notice when the door didn't shut immediately. Once inside the common room, he strode towards one of the staircases presumably leading toward the dormitory. The four underneath the cloak though didn't go after him this time. They were too busy trying not to gape.

For the dungeons the Slytherin common room was surprisingly classy. It looked nearly identical to their common room in layout, with a huge fireplace on one side of the room and sofas and armchairs surrounding it. This room was rectangular though, the furniture a different style and instead of the sky, peaceful, calm greenish-blue light came in from the lake through windows.

The four of them tried to stay out of the students' way so they would stay unnoticed; it was surprisingly difficult as it was close to curfew and the many students inside kept moving about. Harry and Ron grinned at each other underneath the cloak. The more Slytherins the better. Upon a silent signal of Harry's the four pulled out their handfuls of dung bombs from underneath their robes. Harry smiled encouragingly in response to Neve's nervous expression and Hermione's white face. Somehow now able to move as one, they snuck around the common room as carefully as they could, dropping some of the joke articles in hidden corners and some inside the stray school bag or two. Stream. Ron had just hidden the last of the bombs when a Slytherin accidentally stepped on a corner of the cloak, making their heads visible and causing Harry's glasses to fall to the ground. Neve couldn't suppress a shocked wince and Hermione gasped. Harry silently cursed when he noticed it was Malfoy, pulling the cloak back up but the blonde had already turned and seen them. Harry could only see his hazy outline but that was enough to see he was still looking in their direction.

"Let's get out of here." Harry hissed, moving toward the exit. The other three stumbled behind them and they even bumped into a couple of students who thankfully remained ignorant. No one - except Malfoy - noticed the door open and close on its own accord.

"What are we going to do? What are we going to do?" Hermione whispered frantically as they hastened through the short passage. Neve didn't say anything, her face white with fright while Harry just tried to concentrate on not stepping on anyone.

"Calm down?" Ron suggested. "It's not like he can do anything to us, who's going to believe him? 'Professor, I saw a few floating Gryffindor heads inside our common room'?"

Then they were finally back in the corridor and Harry quickly threw the cloak off. The others looked at him like he was insane.

"No time to explain, run!" he said. They didn't move. Ron tried to cover them all with the cloak again but Harry held it out of his reach. "We're faster without it, Malfoy is going to tell on us!"

"No one's gonna believe him." Ron said calmly but Harry shook his head, at Ron's answer as well as at his own stupidity; his glasses were still inside.

"Looking for this, Potter?" Malfoy's snide voice came from behind them. They all froze in shock and slowly turned around. There he was, idly dangling Harry's glasses from one finger, an evil smirk on his face and a glint in his eyes. Neve shuddered. Before any of them could even move a muscle, Malfoy suddenly ran.

"Just you wait - !" he called over his shoulder, not even bothering to finish the threat properly. The four met each other's eyes with equal amounts of dread and fear, their faces all identically white. As if alerted by a silent signal, they all ran, the spell on their shoes wearing off and the sound of their steps echoing loudly through the silent castle. Harry was helped along by the other three whenever he stumbled.

They were halfway up one of the moving staircases when it decided to do what it was named for. They froze, tensely waiting for it to stop. It did, with a loud rumble. Harry moved first, Ron and Neve closely behind.

"That's the third floor!" Hermione called behind them. Neve hesitated in her step for a moment but Harry grabbed her hand and dragged her along.

"We don't have a choice!" he replied without bothering to look back. "If we can't get back to the common room, we have to hide."

Hermione stopped protesting and followed, albeit reluctantly. Ron was ahead now and stopped at the closest door to them, pulling on the handle without success. Hermione pushed him aside.

"Let me!" she frantically said, pointing her wand at the keyhole. "_Alohomora_!"

It sprung open and they all leapt inside, Harry closing the door behind him. As soon as the door fell into place, a click sounded. Ron sighed in relief.

"Thank Merlin, we -" he began, but was cut off abruptly by Hermione clapping her hand over his mouth. He glared at her and tried to speak, but then stopped by himself, eyes widening comically. There sounds of footsteps outside the door, accompanied by two deep voices. Ron threw Harry a panicked glance who held a finger to his lips warningly. Whoever it was stopped walking in front of the door.

"…d-don't know why you wanted t-to meet here of all p-places, Severus…"

"Why not? This is where the Philosopher's Stone is, after all. Do you know how to get past Hagrid's beast yet?"

Neve started in shock; they all traded a shocked glance. That was Snape. What were he and Quirrell doing on the third floor? Neve glanced around the darkness in the room and froze when she spotted something behind them. She nervously tugged at Harry's sleeve. He didn't notice, too intent on eavesdropping.

"I-I d-don't k-know, w-what y-you m-mean, S-severus -" said Quirrell, obviously frightened.

"You know exactly what I mean." the Potions master said smoothly. A thump and a wince sounded. "Whose side are you on, Quirinus? It's time you decided."

Harry turned when Neve's tugging persisted.

"What is it?" he hissed in irritation, but Neve for once, didn't feel hurt by that tone.

"That." she whispered, pointing upwards. All three of them looked up, their jaws dropping in shock.

Glaring down at them was a giant beast of a dog; but that wasn't the worst part. It had not one, but three heads which reached the top of the ceiling. Its six pairs of black eyes rolled madly, its jaws full of long, sharp teeth and as thick as Harry's arm and dripping with thick, stinking saliva.

The panic that had been steadily building inside Neve's chest burst, travelling up her windpipe and released itself into a bloodcurdling scream. The beast began to bark loudly, snapping at them as they jumped into action at her scream. Harry frantically felt at the wall behind him, trying to stay somewhat calm, even with Neve's hysterical sobs and Ron's whimpers. His fingernails scraped along the smooth wall until they finally hit the rough texture of the wooden door. His movements sped up until he finally grasped the handle, pressing it down and pushed at it. His sense of relief quickly evaporated when it didn't budge.

"We're locked in!" he hissed, his own panic bubbling up. Ron let out a sound halfway between a howl and a whimper and threw himself against the door in desperation, the dog from hell snapping at his heels.

"Let - me - _out_!" he yelled, punctuating each word by slamming against the door again and again.

"Ron, you're only making it worse -" Hermione began, an eye on the growing agitation of the dog. But Ron wasn't listening and threw himself against the door one more time, putting all his energy behind it - and it burst open. He fell through the doorframe, scrambling away as fast as he could. Neve quickly followed, still sobbing and Harry and Hermione not far behind. The barking was still loud but the dog didn't fit through the door, making its heads snap at them through it unsuccessfully. They were safe.

Before the four of them could do anything besides marvel that they still had all their limbs, a voice sounded which made their blood freeze in their veins.

"Well, well, what do we have here."

They all turned around, eyes wide in shock and fear. It was Snape, looking down at them past his hooked nose. His dark eyes glittered, in glee at being able to punish Gryffindors, him or something else entirely, Harry couldn't tell. Quirrell was gone; he must have left sometime during their escape from the beast. Harry looked directly into Snape's eyes, distantly aware that Neve was hiccupping and Hermione was trying to soothe her. The look in the Potion master's eyes was ominous and knowing, as if he had been aware they had all listened to the previous conversation.

Snape gestured at them to get up in abrupt fashion and then turned.

"Let's get you to Professor McGonagall and see what she has to say about her precious Gryffindors breaking the rules."

Harry stared hard at his back as they trudged along. But for some reason, Snape didn't seem to care that they knew.

* * *

The hour that followed was one of the most humiliating ones in Harry's short life so far. After Snape had dragged them to McGonagall's office, he had stood next to her, who was now staring at them in disapproval and giving them a stern talking to. Malfoy, now beside Snape, had been grinning at them in sadistic joy from the moment they had come in and not stopped since. McGonagall was still talking.

" - am thoroughly disappointed in you! I expected better of all of you, especially you, Miss Granger and Miss Longbottom! And where do I even start with you two?!" she turned to Ron and Harry who winced. "Do not try to win my sympathies, Mr Weasley and Mr Potter!" McGonagall glared at them and finally faced Malfoy, who was still smirking. "And wipe that face expression off, Mr Malfoy! You are not any less innocent than any of my students!"

"But Professor -" he started, shutting up immediately at the withering glare she gave him.

"Do not try my patience, Mr Malfoy. As it is not very late yet, you will not receive detentions, but you will have fifty points taken off. For each of you! It pains me to do this to my own house, but you will learn no other way. Next time you will not get away with simply a few points less."

Malfoy threw Snape a glare who remained unimpressed.

"Get along, Draco. I will not have you disgrace Slytherin House any further tonight."

Malfoy snorted and derision and stormed out first. McGonagall shook her head in exasperation but gestured for the remaining four to leave.

They did under her stern gaze; obviously she was expecting them to go to their dorms without any fuss and thanks to Neve and Hermione, they did just that.

* * *

The next day, the whole of Slytherin House came down to breakfast moodily. Usually, that would be considered normal. But also usually, they were quiet as they sulked. This morning, however, screaming matches and a near food fight occurred. The rest of the Hall wondered at this until they walked past to get to class.

The whole table exuded a strong smell of what seemed like a mixture between, dung, gas and vomit. The twins high-fived Harry, Ron, Neve and Hermione as they parted outside of the Great Hall, the former two grinning just as devilishly as the twins, the latter fighting down a grin and losing.

Needless to say, every student and teacher made a wide berth around any Slytherin who they bumped into, in and outside of class.

It lasted for a solid week.

* * *

The evening following the events of their prank on the Slytherins, the four of them went down to Hagrid's hut. Their exams were starting next week and Hermione wanted to do what Ron had dubbed a 'study boot camp from hell' in the time they had left. She had allowed them one visit to Hagrid before she dragged them to the library and forced them to study. But on the way down there, exams had been the last thing on their minds.

"The Philosopher's Stone, are you sure, Harry?" Hermione was asking. Harry nearly glared at her.

"Yes, I am. Why are you asking me this? You were there too." he shot back, unable to keep the annoyance out of his tone.

"I heard it too." Neve added quietly. Harry threw her a grateful glance. Ron waved his hand in front of their faces.

"Um, sorry, but aren't forgetting something a bit more important than some crackpot's stone?" At their blank faces, he threw his arms up in the air. "There's a huge, three-headed monster-beast-thing on the third floor! In Hogwarts!"

Neve jumped a little at the reminder; she hadn't forgotten, not really. She'd had nightmares about it.

"No, Ron. The important thing is _what it was standing on_." Hermione emphasised. Ron stared at her.

"It had three heads - three! - and you say its _feet _were important?" he asked incredulously. Hermione sighed in annoyance.

"It wasn't standing on solid ground, it was standing on a trap door. Now, put Snape's words together of 'getting past that beast' and the 'Philosopher's stone', do you see how that's more important?"

"You think…that thing is guarding the stone?" Neve whispered, eyes wide. Hermione nodded, Ron gaped and Harry blinked. Ron shook his head.

"We don't know for sure it is." he argued, knocking on Hagrid's door as they came to a stop. Hermione looked like she was about to argue back but then the door creaked to signal someone behind it. To their surprise, Hagrid only opened it a crack wide to look through. His visible eye relaxed at the sight of them.

"Sorry, but I've really got no time. Maybe come back later, yeah?"

The door was starting to close but Harry pushed himself into the crack.

"C'mon, Hagrid. We've got exams coming up and won't be able to come visit you at all for the next month." Ron called. The door stopped moving (for which Harry was grateful for; even for someone as underfed as him the gap between the door and the doorframe was getting tight) for a moment, then opened.

"Come on in, then. Tea?" Hagrid grumbled, closing the door firmly as soon as they were inside.. The four of them sat down at the table on which a huge teapot and a massive tea cup sat. Hagrid put down a mismatched set of tea cups.

"Thanks." Harry said, looking past Hagrid to see his fireplace blazing. A huge fire in spring? "Do you mind if I open a window? It's stifling in here."

Harry had already gotten up but Hagrid quickly shook his head, putting the teapot down.

"No, no. Ye see, I've, uh, I've got a cold. Gotta keep warm." Hagrid gave an unconvincing cough and wiped the sweat of his bushy eyebrows. They all stared at him.

"Hagrid," Ron suddenly said, "why are you wearing an apron?"

Hagrid was saved from having to answer by a loud crack from the fire. He turned, his face losing the nervous edge it had ever since they had set foot inside the hut and taking on an euphoric expression. More cracking sounds followed and Hagrid turned to face them again, a large pair of iron pincers holding a blackened, slightly oval object in front of him. Hagrid set down the object in the middle of the table reverently, where it immediately sank into the wood with a hiss. The other four bent over it.

"Hagrid, what is that?" Neve asked in a small voice. Thin white lines had appeared on its surface; a series of cracking noises caused another web of them across the splotchy black. Hagrid grinned proudly, about to answer.

"That's… a Norwegian Horntail." Ron said, awed. He looked up at Hagrid. "But where did you get it? Charlie says they're very rare."

"It's… a dragon?" Neve asked, scared and stepping back a little. Harry stared at the object on the table; that was a dragon egg? Hermione seemed to be just as awed as him, staring at the egg open-mouthed.

"I know." Hagrid said proudly, watching the egg, as more and more cracks appeared in rapid succession. " 't was a bit of luck, really -"

The egg gave one final, loud crack and split apart, parts of the shell tumbling around or off the table. Hagrid stared at the little creature that emerged with a suspicious moisture in his eye.

It looked nothing like what Harry might have imagined a dragon to look like. It was small (it was newborn after all) and all crumpled up, sticky with residue from the membrane surrounding it in the egg. Its wings stuck together on their bony frame and its skin sagged in many spots. It was quite easily the ugliest thing Harry had ever seen. A glance at all of his friends confirmed they thought the same thing; Neve, Hermione and Ron all looked thoroughly disgusted. Hermione spoke first out of the four.

"Hagrid, what were you thinking? You live in a wooden house, you can't raise a dragon here -" she began, but Hagrid was too busy cooing at the baby dragon to notice.

"Who's a good little Norbert? That's right, ye are!" Hagrid cooed enthusiastically, good-naturedly patting out the fire 'Norbert' had set accidentally to his scraggly beard.

Harry shook his head, easing away from the table and moving towards the door.

"Say, Hagrid, speaking of monsters - " Ron began loudly. Hagrid didn't seem to be listening, but Harry remembered the dog being called Hagrid's, "do you know why there's a huge three-headed dog in Hogwarts?"

That got Hagrid's attention. His fingers froze mid-motion of tickling Norbert's stomach.

"Ye know 'bout Fluffy?" he asked, too casually to be true. There was a nervous edge to it.

"That thing has a name?" Ron blurted. Hagrid frowned at him, resuming his stroking of Nobert's head.

"Why, yes, o'course he does! Animals are sensitive beings, y'know." he said in a reprimanding tone. "And three-headed dogs ain't no common beasts. Get asked about him quite a lot."

A note of pride crept back into his tone and he bent down towards Norbert, getting lost in his cooing.

"We'd better go." Harry said, watching the interaction. Hagrid nodded absentmindedly. They went towards the door, calling out their goodbyes to Hagrid. He pulled himself back to the present long enough to give them all a stern look.

"I don't know why ye know 'bout Fluffy, but you shouldn't. Better keep yer mouths shut, otherwise ye won't be the only ones in trouble."

* * *

"That was horrible." Neve whispered, her face still white and lips barely moving as they sat down for lunch. They had just finished their Potions exam; Hermione was the only one with any sense of confidence. Neve had definitely been the worst off, though. Nerves had destroyed what little confidence she had in Snape's class and she had flinched every time he had brushed past her, resulting in her dropping in more or less of an ingredient than was needed or adding it at the wrong time. Her finished result had been nothing like the simplified Sleeping Draught they were supposed to brew; instead of a clear lavender colour with a water-like consistency, it had curled up as a bright green lump at the bottom of her cauldron. As her cauldrons had a tendency to melt during Potions, this was already an improvement and most definitely better than Seamus' - his had exploded.

The three of them looked sympathetically at Neve. Ron began to shovel mounds of food on his plate.

"Well, look at the bright side. The exam's over and we only have Herbology to go tomorrow." Ron said, his mouth full of food. Hermione wrinkled her nose, but didn't comment.

"We have W.I.T.C.H. on Friday." Neve corrected him, but smiled weakly. Herbology, she was good at. And W.I.T.C.H. wasn't exactly her favourite or best subject but anything was easier than Potions. Or Transfiguration, or Charms. She sighed. She really was good at nothing.

"What's the matter?" Harry asked, worriedly, stopping his fork halfway to his mouth. Neve smiled and pulled a bowl near her, piling up the greens on her plate.

"Nothing."

* * *

Neve sighed; though this time not because of hopelessness on her part.

"Come on, it's not that hard. You practically already said it - a Devil's Snare grows in naturally in dark and damp environments, so what causes it to die?" she asked patiently yet again. Harry and Ron stared at her blankly; Hermione was taking notes from their Herbology books. The bookish girl looked up disapprovingly.

"You ought to know this. We covered this just last lesson." she reprimanded. Ron glared at her and Harry couldn't help but yawn.

"It's already so late." Harry said. "And we've been doing this for the past three hours. Not including the weeks we spent studying before that."

He aimed that last bit at Hermione who had gone back to her notes.

"If we don't know it now, we never will." Ron said flippantly, leaning back into the comfy couch.

"This could be the kind of question that comes up tomorrow, you know." Neve told him, but leaned back in her armchair as well. She rubbed her eyes and yawned as well.

"How about we go to bed, then?" Ron said eagerly, jumping up suddenly, as if full of energy. Harry shook his head weakly.

"Still need to study for W.I.T.C.H." he reminded him. Neve looked at the pile of books sitting on the coffee table in front of them.

"Well, there really isn't much more to do. We've been reviewing every lesson after we were done and then took notes. Let's just review the questions in the back to the book, that should be enough." Neve decided. Harry sagged in relief. Neve opened the book in the back and leafed through it until she found the section she was looking for. "_Important Pureblood Houses in the Past and Today _and _Basic Traditions_."

She gave the book to Hermione, who had already stopped scratching notes into her roll of parchment and looked up in interest. She eagerly took the book and cleared her throat. Ron rolled his eyes and mimed falling asleep by snoring loudly. She ignored him.

"What are Pureblood families, more often the bigger ones, called?" Hermione asked the first question.

"Houses. Or Noble Houses." Neve said. Hermione nodded an continued.

"Who were the most powerful European Pureblood families in the past and what are they also known as?"

"The Malfoys." Harry answered immediately, wrinkling his nose. Hermione nodded.

"The Peverells, the Slytherins, the Medici." Neve listed them off her fingers.

"The Blacks and the Romanovs." Harry said. He looked at her. "There's one more isn't there?" Neve nodded slowly.

"The Tudors. Together they are also known as the Holy Seven." she quickly added. Hermione nodded again, glancing at her from the side but not commenting. A soft snore alerted them to the fact that Ron had really fallen asleep.

"Next question." Hermione announced. "Who are the most powerful European Pureblood families today and, if known, who do they descend from?"

"The Malfoys obviously just continued on and so did the Blacks." Neve began. "The Slytherins split off in to many lesser families."

"The Peverells as well. The Romanovs became extinct." Harry said, then grimaced as if he had swallowed something bitter. "The Zabinis are descendants of the Medici."

"The Tudors aren't an official House or have much influence left today. No descendants have come to Hogwarts or any other school for may generations; many historians believe they found evidence of Renouncement sometime during Henry VIII's lifetime. Legends exist which say the Tudors were descendants from Merlin and Niniane or lady of the lake themselves." Neve said, her eyes looking at the book but seemingly faraway, her voice distant. Harry stared and so Hermione cleared her throat a little awkwardly.

"That's all correct. Last question then?" Hermione asked, but didn't wait for a nod. Her eyes skimmed the page, looking for something suitable to ask. "Ah. So, what is one of the most important Pureblood traditions and how is it done?"

"Arranged marriages -" Neve answered first, about to continue when Harry interrupted her.

" - to ensure the bloodline continues. Some have been engaged since they were born, others may become engaged after becoming an adult by wizard standards. The marriages are usually organised by the Head of the family." Harry finished triumphantly. Neve smiled and stood, trading a somewhat proud look with Hermione. "I think we're ready. Let's go to sleep, yes?"

* * *

Ron and Hermione stood in front of a still classroom, the corridor empty but echoing with slight noises from the Great Hall. Dinner had already started but Neve and Harry weren't done yet, so they were waiting. Ron's stomach growled in protest.

"I'm hungry, 'Mione." Ron complained. Hermione glared at him, but before she could respond, the door to the quiet classroom opened and the small class of less than twenty people swarmed out.

"…can't believe the questions were that easy." Malfoy was saying arrogantly. He bumped into Harry and Neve from behind, laughing at them as she shrank back from him. Malfoy walked on towards lunch, surrounded by Slytherins. Ron glared at them, but fell into step with the other three as they made their way towards the Hall. They had a quick lunch ("Stop stuffing yourself, Ron, you'll throw up!" "Bu' um hung'y!") and then left Hagrid's hut.

"I hope Hagrid can cook." Ron grumbled, remembering yesterday's note with Harry's morning mail, inviting them for an evening visit with tea. Hermione looked at him disgust while Harry grinned in amusement and Neve giggled a little.

"Honestly, Ronald, you just ate -" Hermione began as they stopped in front of Hagrid's hut. It swung open almost immediately, revealing a swollen-eyed Hagrid. He burst into a fresh round of tears as he let them inside and engulfed them in a bone-crushing hug.

"He's gone! Norbert's g-gone!" he sobbed, letting them go and blowing into his gigantic handkerchief loudly. Ron and Harry patted his elbows - the highest part of him they could reach - awkwardly. Hermione dragged Neve to the small pantry where they tried to prepare some tea.

"How'd that happen?" Ron asked, curious despite himself. Hagrid wailed.

"D-Dumbledore found out - s-said it w-was too dangerous -" he began to babble. "W-went to the H-Hog's H-Head yesterday to have a d-drink - clears the head, y'k-know." Here Hagrid laughed aloud, a harsh non-humorous laugh. "And whaddya know, the guy who gave me the egg asks me 'bout him. T-told him w-what happened. T-told him I've at least got Fluffy left." Hagrid began to sniff again but didn't sob. Neve and Hermione poured some tea into a giant cup for him. Hagrid mumbled his thanks and took a sip. "Was awful interested in Fluffy, he was."

Harry froze, stilling the patting he was doing to Hagrid's elbow. He exchanged a look with Hermione. She had told them she had done 'a bit of light reading' and found out what the Philosopher's Stone could do. In the wrong hands, it could be bad.

"And…did he seem interested in Fluffy?" he asked cautiously. He glanced at Ron and Neve who frowned at him, until her eyes widened and she shook her head in disbelief.

Hagrid frowned at him.

"Well, o'course. Told ye last time, din't I? Three-headed dogs are a rarity."

Their visit with Hagrid didn't last long after that revelation. After he had told them, he had told the stranger that the key to calming Fluffy was music, Harry had suddenly jumped up, wanting to leave. Hagrid hadn't objected much, seeing as curfew was fast approaching.

The other three could barely keep up with him as he led them toward the Gryffindor common room. He burst forth into the room and was about to storm up the stairs when Ron grabbed him by the shoulder.

"What's the matter with you?"

"Don't you see?" Harry barely managed to keep from yelling. He flung his arms wide apart. "Snape asking Quirrell about Fluffy, Fluffy guarding the Stone, someone _by chance_ coming by with a dragon egg when Hagrid wants one so badly and, _by chance_, just one the same night it's taken away from him, he shows up again to ask about Fluffy?"

Hermione looked at him with huge eyes full of dawning horror.

"No - " she choked, shaking her head in denial. Harry nodded fiercely.

"Yes. It's Snape! He's going to steal the Philosopher's Stone! And he'll do it tonight!" Harry whirled around on his heel, up the boy's dormitory. "And I'm going to stop him."

By the time he came back down with his Invisibility cloak, Ron and Hermione had huddled with Neve, who seemed to be shaking her head rather vehemently.

"N-no. I c-can't." she was saying, reverting back to the stammer she had gotten rid of completely in their presence.

"You don't have to come with me." Harry soothed her, assuming she was too scared. He looked at the other two. "Same goes for you."

"Are you nuts? Of course I'm coming." Ron exclaimed. Hermione nodded.

"So am I."

Harry was surprised and touched by their sincerity and fierceness. He didn't think he could argue with them to make them stay - but maybe he didn't want to. He turned to Neve.

"What about you?"

Neve looked at him with wide, terrified eyes.

"If what you say is true, you don't stand a chance. None of us do." she whispered. She suddenly stood right front of them, her feet wide apart and her wand pointed at them. It was shaking. "I-I'm going to s-stop you. Even I-f I h-have t-to fight y-you."

A weight sank into the pit of Harry's stomach as he realised what she was saying.

"Neve, I'm sorry -" he began, but Hermione interrupted him.

"Neve, I know you mean well, but this is important." she took a deep breath. "I am so, so sorry about this." Hermione pointed her wand at Neve who began to shake violently. "_Petrificus Totalus_."

* * *

Quirrell's outstretched hand crumbled, even as it reached out toward Harry. His teacher's face had already become stone which was quickly crumbling into dust. His body collapsed, crumbling stone coming out of the robe's openings. Harry could only stare in horror as a dark smoke rose from it until it was about level with Harry. A terrifying face, one he had seen just moments ago attached to that now collapsed body, became visible in the smoke. It came toward him, flying, and opened its mouth, as if to swallow him whole, screaming. It passed through his chest and Harry screamed; he burned all over, a flame that originated in his scar. The fire that was his body completely engulfed his mind, the edges flickering with the flames as his vision steadily grew darker.

* * *

"Harry? Oh, Harry!"

A choking stronghold of three pairs of arms captured him as soon as he entered the Great Hall, having been released that morning from the hospital wing. When his friends let go, he grinned at them. Hermione and Ron both looked alright. Neve had stepped back a little further, her head hung low.

"I'm sorry." she said very quietly to the floor. She looked up, her now blue eyes watery. "I just wanted to protect you - but then you got hurt - and what if the last thing I had said to you, that I would fight you -" Neve broke out into a sob then, but Hermione quickly pulled her into a hug, Ron patted her back awkwardly and Harry tried to look into her eyes.

"It's okay. You did what you thought was right." Harry smiled at her and she returned it hesitantly.

"What's with the sob party?" Fred suddenly said. Harry groaned bnut laughed. George stood beside his twin, both wearing identical grins. They always seemed to turn up whenever a laugh was needed. George continued. "We just won the House Cup, after all!"Harry's jaw dropped and he heard Ron guffaw while Hermione and Neve giggled.

"We what?" Harry asked, incredulous. "But we caused Gryffindor to lose 200 points!"

"And Dumbledore restored and added them." Hermione explained, grinning. 'For 'heroic deeds on behalf of the school, going to Mr Harry Potter, Mr Ron Weasley, Ms Hermione Granger and Ms Evangeline Longbottom'."

"It really was Neve who put us on top, you know." Ron explained, grinning too. "We all got us up to equal footing with the Slytherins but she helped us get ten more."

Harry could feel the grin on his face begin to spread and turned to Neve who was grinning now as well.

"You did, Neve. You've proven to everyone you are a real Gryffindor."

* * *

Harry and Neve both sat at the window as the Hogwarts castle shrank slowly in the distance. They watched silently until it was gone, then turned back to the other occupants in their compartment. Ron and Hermione were both playing Wizard's Chess as he taught her how to play. Their voices were raised in childish arguments but their eyes were grinning.

"I'll miss this." Harry said quietly. The two playing looked up and Neve smiled, squeezing his hand quickly before letting go.

"So will I."

"Me too." Hermione agreed and Ron nodded gruffly.

"But this isn't over." Neve continued, smiling and looking outside towards where she knew Hogwarts was. Harry smiled and brought out a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavoured Beans.

"Yeah. Anyone want one?"

And as they shared the beans and laughed at the flavours and faces they were making, Harry knew one thing for sure. Even though he was going back to the Dursley's, he wasn't going home. He had found better friends at Hogwarts than he could have ever hoped for and a home he had thought he would never have; a home where he would return to at the end of summer.

He smiled.

* * *

A/N2: As mentioned in the first chapter and in the summary, there will be canon events happening, but necessarily in the same time order as in the original series. For example, the events of one year may happen in a different one, such as year 4 in 3 or something. I'm not too sure yet, but read on and find out ^^

How is it? Any better/worse than last chapter? Let me know! Maybe another 3 reviews and I'll update during the following week?


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